Anna Jones - The Modern Cook’s Year

15 fresh or brined green peppercorns (see note above)

2 x 400ml tins of coconut milk

2 limes

1 tablespoon vegetable stock powder or ½ a stock cube

1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce

1 stalk of lemongrass

½ a medium butternut squash, deseeded and peeled

100g thin vermicelli brown rice noodles

100g spinach or winter greens, shredded

1 tablespoon coconut sugar or honey

Gently melt the coconut oil in a pan over a low heat – you don’t want to heat it, just melt it. Put the ginger, garlic and chilli (the amount you use and whether you keep the seeds in depends on how hot you like things) into your food processor with the spring onions, almost all of the coriander and the mint leaves (keep a few leaves back for serving). Add the coconut oil, then blitz for 30 seconds or until you have a smooth, deep green paste.

Place a deep, medium-sized pan over a medium heat and add the herb paste, stirring it for a minute while it warms. Stir in the turmeric, peppercorns, both tins of coconut milk, the juice of one of the limes, the stock powder and the tamari. Fill one of the tins one and a half times with hot water from the kettle and add the water to the pan.

Using a rolling pin or pestle, smash the lemongrass so that it splinters but remains together, then tuck it into the pan. Bring the liquid to the boil, then lower the heat and leave to simmer, bubbling gently.

Fill and boil a kettle. Meanwhile, slice the squash as thinly as you can and add this to the pan too. Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl and pour over enough of the boiling water from the kettle to cover them.

Once the squash is cooked through, add the greens to the soup and allow the liquid to come to a simmer again. Check the seasoning of the soup, adding the coconut sugar if it needs some sweetness and more lime and salt as needed. Drain the noodles, then divide them between four deep soup bowls. Ladle over the soup and vegetables, adding a generous squeeze of lime juice and, if you like, a few of the reserved coriander and mint leaves.

Not-chicken soup

This is a soup for the soul; chicken soup without the chicken and with no apology. It’s the get-well soup I have been searching for, to cure whatever ails you, whether that’s a cold or a broken heart. As gentle and as nourishing as they come, the soup has a base of slow-cooked sweet fennel and leek, layered with old friends celery and carrot, with a pep of ginger and lemon and a warmth from a generous amount of white pepper. Crisp little pieces of tofu top the broth, sticky from a minute or two in a pan, with some soy and a sprinkling of seasoning.

The seasoning, nutritional yeast, adds depth and umami and tastes much more complex and gentle than its ungenerous name suggests (though it is a great source of elusive B vitamins for vegetarians and vegans). If you don’t have it the soup will still be delicious without. Be sure to save the fronds from your fennel and leaves from your celery for finishing it prettily.

SERVES 4

olive oil

1 onion, finely sliced

1 leek, finely sliced

3 bulbs of fennel, trimmed and finely sliced, fronds reserved

3 sticks of celery, chopped into 1cm pieces, leaves reserved

1 carrot, peeled and chopped into rough 1cm pieces

8 cloves of garlic, very thinly sliced

a small thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1 lemon

1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns, plus more to taste

50g small pasta or broken up spaghetti pieces

extra virgin olive oil, to serve

FOR THE TOFU

200g firm tofu, sliced roughly into 1cm sticks

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 heaped teaspoon nutritional yeast

Pour a little olive oil into a large soup pot and place over a medium heat. Add the onion, leek, fennel, celery and carrot, turn the heat down low and cook gently for 20–30 minutes, until everything is very soft and sweet, without browning too much. Add a splash of water if it looks like anything is going to stick.

Add the garlic and ginger, cook for another couple of minutes, then squeeze in the lemon and add the peppercorns. Add 2 litres of cold water (or you can use vegetable stock) and a good pinch of sea salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20–30 minutes.

Once the soup is nearly ready, toss the tofu in 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce. Heat a pan with a little olive oil, fry the tofu over a medium to high heat until crisp then add the final tablespoon of soy sauce and toss quickly – the soy should stick to the tofu and give it a rich stickiness. Remove from the heat, add the nutritional yeast and toss again.

Roughly break or bash your pasta into bite-sized pieces or lengths, add to the soup and cook for another 8 minutes (or as long as your pasta takes). Taste and add more salt or water or even a squeeze more lemon. Ladle into shallow bowls, top with the tofu, some fennel fronds and celery leaves and a good drizzle of olive oil.

Pomelo and peanut winter noodles with carrot and coconut dressing

Cheerful and layered with flavour, this is a bright bowl that makes the most of January citrus. I use pomelo, but you can use another citrus if pomelo is hard to come by; clementines and blood oranges are both great. The carrot and coconut milk dressing makes more than you will need, which is intentional, as it’s easier to make in a big batch and I love having it in the fridge to use through the week. I have made suggestions on how else to use it opposite but if you’d prefer not to have extra, halve the ingredients.

I use 100 per cent buckwheat soba noodles, as I love their super savoury note, but any noodles you like would work here. If you are using soba, be careful not to overcook them and be quick to refresh them in cold water so that they don’t stick together.

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN MEAL, 4 AS PART OF A MEAL

200g soba noodles

200g shelled edamame (fresh or frozen)

½ a medium pomelo

2 big handfuls of watercress or other peppery leaves

100g unsalted peanuts, toasted

a small bunch of coriander, leaves picked

FOR THE DRESSING

50ml full-fat coconut milk

a generous pinch of ground turmeric

a large thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1 carrot, peeled

1 green chilli

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar

1 shallot, peeled and roughly chopped

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. When the noodles are nearly cooked, add the edamame to the pot for a quick swim. Remove from the heat, drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and shake off as much water as possible.

Meanwhile, make your dressing. Put the coconut milk, turmeric, ginger, carrot, chilli, olive oil, sesame oil, maple syrup, brown rice vinegar, shallot and some salt into a blender and blend until very smooth. Taste and adjust, if needed, with more salt or vinegar, or any other ingredient you think might need a little boost.

Cut the peel from the pomelo and use your knife to slice between the membrane to cut it into segments, removing as much of the pith as you can.